Karnei Shomron Mayor Yigal Lahav met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Sunday and received from him a promise that sovereignty would be applied to all Jewish communities in Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley.
"He said that on July 1 he would submit to the Knesset plenum a proposal to apply sovereignty to all localities and to all authorities without exception in Judea and Samaria. It could not be any clearer," Lahav said in an interview with Arutz Sheva.
He said that during the meeting, many points that had been vague were clarified. "This is the first time we have heard firsthand about the plan. So far, there have been rumors and statements about what is there and what isn't. I think the meeting was very important and we made it clear to the prime minister that it cannot be that we receive information regarding our daily lives from all kinds of sources."
"Netanyahu understood this and asked that the information now flow more transparently and clearly. As for the maps and the partners in their preparation, it was made clear to us that there is no precise map that refers to the area but something more abstract,and he said that we would be involved in the mapping stages to create a fabric of life that people could live with. Clusters will also be created for the isolated localities so they will not be isolated, and it will also be guaranteed that Israeli forces will maintain control of the roads."
Lahav said that he is disappointed with the dispute which has broken out with the heads of the Yesha Council, who have strongly criticized Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Trump Administration over the way sovereignty is being applied. "I know there was a meeting a week ago which we did not know about and I don't know who organized it. Therefore, to this meeting with the prime minister, everyone who was not at the previous meeting was invited to hear the messages from the prime minister. For whatever reason, we heard very clear answers which were less clear to our colleagues."
"The first thing I did this morning was to tone down the rhetoric in the Yesha Council, to say that we can have a free discourse without descending into baseless hatred. We are the heads of the authorities, and behind us are half a million people who are waiting for us to clarify things for them, so we cannot afford to be confused. There should be a uniform message page that goes out to all authorities and residents explaining what the situation is and what the challenges are. Obviously, not everything will go smoothly and there will be more struggles to achieve better results," the mayor of Karnei Shomron concluded.